Sites consacrés à
Richard ASHCROFT
Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971 in Billinge Higher End, Lancashire) is an English singer-songwriter. He is the lead singer of The Verve, an English rock band that he helped form in 1989. He is also a solo artist in his own right and he is still scheduled to resume and continue with his solo career at some point in the future, despite being busy with newly reformed The Verve at present.
Early life: 1971-1989
Ashcroft grew up in Up Holland, Lancashire with his mother, who was a hairdresser, and his younger sisters. His father died when Richard was 11 as a result of a brain hemorrhage. Ashcroft soon fell under the influence of his stepfather, Doug (who incidentally was also called Ashcroft) who belonged to the Rosicrucians.
While in Up Holland, Ashcroft was an avid football player. He still closely follows his favourite team, Manchester United. He has also admitted to cheering for Wigan Athletic, since he actually played for the youth team when he was young and they are geographically the closest professional team to where he grew up. Ashcroft's slightly misshapen nose can be credited to a broken nose he sustained playing football at school. For some time Ashcroft wanted to be a professional football player, idolising George Best, but as he grew older he lost interest in this, turning to music instead[1]. At school, Ashcroft was said to have nicknames such as 'spliffhead' and he was also dubbed 'the cancer of the class'.
The Verve: 1990-1999
Ashcroft formed The Verve (originally just Verve) in 1990 with Nick McCabe, Simon Jones and Peter Salisbury. The band was soon signed to Hut Records and became well-known for their appetite for both psychedelic music and drugs. They also became a part of the Britpop movement. The band split in 1995, and around this time Ashcroft wrote a collection of songs he intended to release as his first solo album. However, by 1997 he had changed his mind and asked McCabe to return (alongside new member Simon Tong), reforming The Verve and releasing the band's very successful third album Urban Hymns. Ashcroft was at the forefront of the band's popularity, receiving an Ivor Novello Award for his songwriting[2] and being referred to by the press as "the unmistakable face of the Number One rock band in England"[3]. However, the pressures of touring and the tensions within the band led to McCabe's departure in mid-1998 and the announcement of the band's break-up in April 1999.
Solo career: 1999-2007
Alone with Everybody: 1999-2001
He released his first single as a solo artist. "A Song for the Lovers" peaked at #3 in the UK charts in April. The song and its video were admired by critics. It was followed by the single "Money To Burn" which reached the UK Top 20 at #17. The new album was named Alone with Everybody (taken from the work of American poet Charles Bukowski), and was released in June, reaching number 1 and receiving Platinum status in the UK. Album reviews were generally positive. In September a third single was released - "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" entered the charts at #21.
Human Conditions: 2002-2004
Ashcroft started working on his second album in 2002. The new album Human Conditions explored very much the same sound that Richard's first record. The album also featured a collaboration with Beach Boys founder, Brian Wilson on the last track, "Nature is the Law". The single "Check the Meaning" was released in early October; it peaked at #11. The album was released later that month. The second single, "Science of Silence" was released in January 2003 and charted at #14. The final single "Buy It in Bottles" charted at #26 in April. Reception to the album was largely negative, with criticism aimed at its lyrical content and overproduction (such as the extensive use of strings in many of the songs). Commercial success did not match the previous records' standards and the album received little promotion or airplay outside the UK. Despite the general panning, Coldplay's Chris Martin, a fan of Ashcroft and The Verve, defended the album's merits which meant a lot to Ashcroft and their friendship initially developed from this [4].
Apart from a few appearances in 2003, Ashcroft was absent from the music business for the next few years. He later explained this, saying "I was bringing up kids"[5].
Live 8 and Keys to the World: 2005-2006
Ashcroft began playing gigs again in mid 2005, and on 2 July, at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, Coldplay invited Ashcroft to perform with them in their set. They played The Verve's hit Bitter Sweet Symphony after only one rehearsal in Crystal Palace. Ashcroft was introduced by Chris Martin as 'the best singer in the world' and he described the song as 'probably the greatest song ever written'. The performance, in addition to Martin's kind words, created renewed media interest in Ashcroft. The performance was generally considered to be one of the highlights of the day and in subsequent interviews, Ashcroft described the experience as something that 'blew his mind'. It wasn't his only collaboration with the band. At a later date in France, while supporting Coldplay, they joined forces to play a cover of "Life's an Ocean" from the The Verve's album A Northern Soul. Ashcroft expressed surprise that Chris Martin, a big fan of The Verve, knew the chords of the song while he didn't.
Ashcroft took Live 8 and its reasons for happening very seriously, and months afterwards, rang Live 8 organiser Bob Geldof demanding to know 'what we achieved that day'. Geldof, who before Ashcroft's performance hugged him and told him that he was one of his favourite rock singers, sent him stacks of paper showing that third world countries had millions of pounds of debt written off as a result of Live 8.
At Christmas 2005, a documentary entitled Live 8: A Bitter Sweet Symphony was aired on the BBC reliving moments of the day featuring a portion of Ashcroft's performance as the show's opening soundtrack.
Ashcroft's third solo album, Keys to the World, was recorded with the co-operation of the London Metropolitan Orchestra, and released on 23 January 2006, by Parlophone. The first single from the album, "Break the Night with Colour", was released on 9 January 2006, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 3. He opened for Coldplay's Twisted Logic Tour in North America and the UK, starting 14 March 2006, in Ottawa. He recently described himself as "the best support act you'll ever see". Around the time of the album's release, Ashcroft announced his largest UK tour for years for May 2006, culminating in three nights at London's Brixton Academy. He played his biggest solo show in June 2006 at the Lancashire County Cricket Club in Manchester. He was supported at the gig by acts such as Razorlight and The Feeling, whilst DJ Shadow joined Richard on stage during his set to perform 'Lonely Soul', their UNKLE collaboration from 1998's Psyence Fiction LP.[6]
The second single released was "Music Is Power", which charted at number 20, but received important airplay not only in the UK but around the world. In 18 April he recorded the Live from London EP, the ninth in a series of EPs released exclusively as digital downloads from Apple's iTunes Store. The EP was released just 6 days later on the 24th. Richard hinted a probable release of a new version of the song "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" to coincide with England's participation in the 2006 Football World Cup. The single (entitled C'mon England by Richard in an interview in May) never materialized. Instead, the next single was "Words Just Get in the Way", which charted lower than the previous, barely making it into the Top 40 at the number 40 position after receiving barely any promotion or airplay. In December the double a-side single "Why Not Nothing" / "Sweet Brother Malcolm" was released in limited size editions.
He recorded a live performance for Live From Abbey Road on 11 December 2006. The episode that he shared with Norah Jones and John Mayer was aired in the UK on Channel 4 in March 2007 and in the USA on the Sundance Channel in June 2007.
The Verve reunion: 2007-present
In early 2007, Ashcroft made peace with McCabe and Jones and The Verve's reunion was announced in June. The band played a number of gigs later in the year and continued touring in 2008, headlining at several festivals around the world. A new album, Forth, was released in August.
Despite the reformation, Ashcroft is still scheduled to resume his solo career at some point in the future. In an interview with Zane Lowe he stated that his solo career and the band can be done together. Ashcroft played a solo gig on August 25 as part of the Last Days of Summer Festival in Buckingham, co-headlining the event with Supergrass and Athlete.
In December Richard's website was re-launched. Using Google Maps technique the site includes music, videos, images and other features. This may hint a new album is due the near future.
Personal life
Ashcroft is married to Kate Radley, the former keyboard player for British shoegaze band Spiritualized. They married in 1995 and it was years before it was publicly revealed that the pair had married. Together, they have two sons: Sonny, born in 2000, and Cassius, born in 2004. Cassius suffered from minor breathing difficulties after his birth. The family live in Gloucester near Radley's parents. Ashcroft is a proclaimed Manchester United fan.
He is good friends with Oasis' Noel Gallagher and Coldplay's Chris Martin (whom Ashcroft once thanked for "letting me be myself again"). The Gallagher brothers for a long time have expressed the greatest of respect to Ashcroft, with Noel fondly nicknaming Ashcroft as 'Captain Rock'. The Oasis track "Cast No Shadow", included in the successful album 1995 (What's the Story) Morning Glory? is dedicated to him, and it is believed that Ashcroft dedicated the title track of A Northern Soul to Gallagher as a response. Ashcroft also provided backing vocals on the Oasis song "All Around the World" in 1997, for Oasis' Be Here Now.
In a 2006 interview, Ashcroft mentioned taking Prozac to help him with clinical depression, but said that they didn't help, referring to the pills as "very, very synthetic." Ashcroft has said that he's always been "a depressive, someone who suffers from depression", and that music and creativity help him cope with his illness.[7]
Controversy
Controversy exists over The Verve's biggest hit, "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which uses a sample of Andrew Oldham Orchestra's recording of The Rolling Stones' 1965 song "The Last Time". The Verve handed The Rolling Stones' record company 100 percent of the royalties from "Bitter Sweet Symphony", and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were given songwriting credits along with Ashcroft. Legal ownership of the song created further controversy when Jagger and Richards gave Nike, Inc. license to use the song in one of its TV commercials, against The Verve's wishes. Another of Ashcroft's more well-known adaptations is found in the song "History". The first two verses of "History" are closely based on the first two stanzas of William Blake's poem "London".
Ashcroft is also known for his problems regarding drugs. These were evidenced several times since the 1990s. Some examples of this are his 1994 summer tour collapses due to ecstasy overdose. He and the band were known for their heavy drug use, especially in the early and mid 1990s.
In 2006 he was arrested in Wiltshire after coming into a youth centre and asking to work with the teenagers present at the club. He refused to leave and employees called the police, resulting in Ashcroft being arrested and fined 80 for disorderly conduct.[8]
Discography
Studio albums
* Alone with Everybody (26 June 2000) (Hut Records) (#1 (UK) (Platinum)
* Human Conditions (21 October 2002) (Hut Records) (#3 (UK) (Gold)
* Keys to the World (23 January 2006) (Parlophone) (#2 (UK) (Platinum)
Singles
From Alone With Everybody
* "A Song for the Lovers" (3 April 2000) (#3 UK)
* "Money to Burn" (12 June 2000) (#17 UK)
* "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" (11 September 2000) (#21 UK)
From Human Conditions
* "Check the Meaning" (7 October 2002) (#11 UK, #25 Europe)
* "Science of Silence" (6 January 2003) (#14 UK)
* "Buy It in Bottles" (7 April 2003) (#26 UK)
From Keys to the World
* "Break the Night With Colour" (9 January 2006) (#3 UK, #3 ITA, #12 Europe)
* "Music Is Power" (17 April 2006) (#20 UK)
* "Words Just Get in the Way" (10 July 2006) (#40 UK)
* "Why Not Nothing?" / "Sweet Brother Malcolm" (4 December 2006) (limited)
EPs
* Live from London EP (24 April 2006) (digital download format only)
Cameos
* "The Test" ~ The Chemical Brothers, on the album Come With Us.
* "Lonely Soul" ~ UNKLE, on the album Psyence Fiction.
Source : en.wikipedia.org/.../wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ashcroft
Early life: 1971-1989
Ashcroft grew up in Up Holland, Lancashire with his mother, who was a hairdresser, and his younger sisters. His father died when Richard was 11 as a result of a brain hemorrhage. Ashcroft soon fell under the influence of his stepfather, Doug (who incidentally was also called Ashcroft) who belonged to the Rosicrucians.
While in Up Holland, Ashcroft was an avid football player. He still closely follows his favourite team, Manchester United. He has also admitted to cheering for Wigan Athletic, since he actually played for the youth team when he was young and they are geographically the closest professional team to where he grew up. Ashcroft's slightly misshapen nose can be credited to a broken nose he sustained playing football at school. For some time Ashcroft wanted to be a professional football player, idolising George Best, but as he grew older he lost interest in this, turning to music instead[1]. At school, Ashcroft was said to have nicknames such as 'spliffhead' and he was also dubbed 'the cancer of the class'.
The Verve: 1990-1999
Ashcroft formed The Verve (originally just Verve) in 1990 with Nick McCabe, Simon Jones and Peter Salisbury. The band was soon signed to Hut Records and became well-known for their appetite for both psychedelic music and drugs. They also became a part of the Britpop movement. The band split in 1995, and around this time Ashcroft wrote a collection of songs he intended to release as his first solo album. However, by 1997 he had changed his mind and asked McCabe to return (alongside new member Simon Tong), reforming The Verve and releasing the band's very successful third album Urban Hymns. Ashcroft was at the forefront of the band's popularity, receiving an Ivor Novello Award for his songwriting[2] and being referred to by the press as "the unmistakable face of the Number One rock band in England"[3]. However, the pressures of touring and the tensions within the band led to McCabe's departure in mid-1998 and the announcement of the band's break-up in April 1999.
Solo career: 1999-2007
Alone with Everybody: 1999-2001
He released his first single as a solo artist. "A Song for the Lovers" peaked at #3 in the UK charts in April. The song and its video were admired by critics. It was followed by the single "Money To Burn" which reached the UK Top 20 at #17. The new album was named Alone with Everybody (taken from the work of American poet Charles Bukowski), and was released in June, reaching number 1 and receiving Platinum status in the UK. Album reviews were generally positive. In September a third single was released - "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" entered the charts at #21.
Human Conditions: 2002-2004
Ashcroft started working on his second album in 2002. The new album Human Conditions explored very much the same sound that Richard's first record. The album also featured a collaboration with Beach Boys founder, Brian Wilson on the last track, "Nature is the Law". The single "Check the Meaning" was released in early October; it peaked at #11. The album was released later that month. The second single, "Science of Silence" was released in January 2003 and charted at #14. The final single "Buy It in Bottles" charted at #26 in April. Reception to the album was largely negative, with criticism aimed at its lyrical content and overproduction (such as the extensive use of strings in many of the songs). Commercial success did not match the previous records' standards and the album received little promotion or airplay outside the UK. Despite the general panning, Coldplay's Chris Martin, a fan of Ashcroft and The Verve, defended the album's merits which meant a lot to Ashcroft and their friendship initially developed from this [4].
Apart from a few appearances in 2003, Ashcroft was absent from the music business for the next few years. He later explained this, saying "I was bringing up kids"[5].
Live 8 and Keys to the World: 2005-2006
Ashcroft began playing gigs again in mid 2005, and on 2 July, at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, Coldplay invited Ashcroft to perform with them in their set. They played The Verve's hit Bitter Sweet Symphony after only one rehearsal in Crystal Palace. Ashcroft was introduced by Chris Martin as 'the best singer in the world' and he described the song as 'probably the greatest song ever written'. The performance, in addition to Martin's kind words, created renewed media interest in Ashcroft. The performance was generally considered to be one of the highlights of the day and in subsequent interviews, Ashcroft described the experience as something that 'blew his mind'. It wasn't his only collaboration with the band. At a later date in France, while supporting Coldplay, they joined forces to play a cover of "Life's an Ocean" from the The Verve's album A Northern Soul. Ashcroft expressed surprise that Chris Martin, a big fan of The Verve, knew the chords of the song while he didn't.
Ashcroft took Live 8 and its reasons for happening very seriously, and months afterwards, rang Live 8 organiser Bob Geldof demanding to know 'what we achieved that day'. Geldof, who before Ashcroft's performance hugged him and told him that he was one of his favourite rock singers, sent him stacks of paper showing that third world countries had millions of pounds of debt written off as a result of Live 8.
At Christmas 2005, a documentary entitled Live 8: A Bitter Sweet Symphony was aired on the BBC reliving moments of the day featuring a portion of Ashcroft's performance as the show's opening soundtrack.
Ashcroft's third solo album, Keys to the World, was recorded with the co-operation of the London Metropolitan Orchestra, and released on 23 January 2006, by Parlophone. The first single from the album, "Break the Night with Colour", was released on 9 January 2006, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 3. He opened for Coldplay's Twisted Logic Tour in North America and the UK, starting 14 March 2006, in Ottawa. He recently described himself as "the best support act you'll ever see". Around the time of the album's release, Ashcroft announced his largest UK tour for years for May 2006, culminating in three nights at London's Brixton Academy. He played his biggest solo show in June 2006 at the Lancashire County Cricket Club in Manchester. He was supported at the gig by acts such as Razorlight and The Feeling, whilst DJ Shadow joined Richard on stage during his set to perform 'Lonely Soul', their UNKLE collaboration from 1998's Psyence Fiction LP.[6]
The second single released was "Music Is Power", which charted at number 20, but received important airplay not only in the UK but around the world. In 18 April he recorded the Live from London EP, the ninth in a series of EPs released exclusively as digital downloads from Apple's iTunes Store. The EP was released just 6 days later on the 24th. Richard hinted a probable release of a new version of the song "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" to coincide with England's participation in the 2006 Football World Cup. The single (entitled C'mon England by Richard in an interview in May) never materialized. Instead, the next single was "Words Just Get in the Way", which charted lower than the previous, barely making it into the Top 40 at the number 40 position after receiving barely any promotion or airplay. In December the double a-side single "Why Not Nothing" / "Sweet Brother Malcolm" was released in limited size editions.
He recorded a live performance for Live From Abbey Road on 11 December 2006. The episode that he shared with Norah Jones and John Mayer was aired in the UK on Channel 4 in March 2007 and in the USA on the Sundance Channel in June 2007.
The Verve reunion: 2007-present
In early 2007, Ashcroft made peace with McCabe and Jones and The Verve's reunion was announced in June. The band played a number of gigs later in the year and continued touring in 2008, headlining at several festivals around the world. A new album, Forth, was released in August.
Despite the reformation, Ashcroft is still scheduled to resume his solo career at some point in the future. In an interview with Zane Lowe he stated that his solo career and the band can be done together. Ashcroft played a solo gig on August 25 as part of the Last Days of Summer Festival in Buckingham, co-headlining the event with Supergrass and Athlete.
In December Richard's website was re-launched. Using Google Maps technique the site includes music, videos, images and other features. This may hint a new album is due the near future.
Personal life
Ashcroft is married to Kate Radley, the former keyboard player for British shoegaze band Spiritualized. They married in 1995 and it was years before it was publicly revealed that the pair had married. Together, they have two sons: Sonny, born in 2000, and Cassius, born in 2004. Cassius suffered from minor breathing difficulties after his birth. The family live in Gloucester near Radley's parents. Ashcroft is a proclaimed Manchester United fan.
He is good friends with Oasis' Noel Gallagher and Coldplay's Chris Martin (whom Ashcroft once thanked for "letting me be myself again"). The Gallagher brothers for a long time have expressed the greatest of respect to Ashcroft, with Noel fondly nicknaming Ashcroft as 'Captain Rock'. The Oasis track "Cast No Shadow", included in the successful album 1995 (What's the Story) Morning Glory? is dedicated to him, and it is believed that Ashcroft dedicated the title track of A Northern Soul to Gallagher as a response. Ashcroft also provided backing vocals on the Oasis song "All Around the World" in 1997, for Oasis' Be Here Now.
In a 2006 interview, Ashcroft mentioned taking Prozac to help him with clinical depression, but said that they didn't help, referring to the pills as "very, very synthetic." Ashcroft has said that he's always been "a depressive, someone who suffers from depression", and that music and creativity help him cope with his illness.[7]
Controversy
Controversy exists over The Verve's biggest hit, "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which uses a sample of Andrew Oldham Orchestra's recording of The Rolling Stones' 1965 song "The Last Time". The Verve handed The Rolling Stones' record company 100 percent of the royalties from "Bitter Sweet Symphony", and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were given songwriting credits along with Ashcroft. Legal ownership of the song created further controversy when Jagger and Richards gave Nike, Inc. license to use the song in one of its TV commercials, against The Verve's wishes. Another of Ashcroft's more well-known adaptations is found in the song "History". The first two verses of "History" are closely based on the first two stanzas of William Blake's poem "London".
Ashcroft is also known for his problems regarding drugs. These were evidenced several times since the 1990s. Some examples of this are his 1994 summer tour collapses due to ecstasy overdose. He and the band were known for their heavy drug use, especially in the early and mid 1990s.
In 2006 he was arrested in Wiltshire after coming into a youth centre and asking to work with the teenagers present at the club. He refused to leave and employees called the police, resulting in Ashcroft being arrested and fined 80 for disorderly conduct.[8]
Discography
Studio albums
* Alone with Everybody (26 June 2000) (Hut Records) (#1 (UK) (Platinum)
* Human Conditions (21 October 2002) (Hut Records) (#3 (UK) (Gold)
* Keys to the World (23 January 2006) (Parlophone) (#2 (UK) (Platinum)
Singles
From Alone With Everybody
* "A Song for the Lovers" (3 April 2000) (#3 UK)
* "Money to Burn" (12 June 2000) (#17 UK)
* "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" (11 September 2000) (#21 UK)
From Human Conditions
* "Check the Meaning" (7 October 2002) (#11 UK, #25 Europe)
* "Science of Silence" (6 January 2003) (#14 UK)
* "Buy It in Bottles" (7 April 2003) (#26 UK)
From Keys to the World
* "Break the Night With Colour" (9 January 2006) (#3 UK, #3 ITA, #12 Europe)
* "Music Is Power" (17 April 2006) (#20 UK)
* "Words Just Get in the Way" (10 July 2006) (#40 UK)
* "Why Not Nothing?" / "Sweet Brother Malcolm" (4 December 2006) (limited)
EPs
* Live from London EP (24 April 2006) (digital download format only)
Cameos
* "The Test" ~ The Chemical Brothers, on the album Come With Us.
* "Lonely Soul" ~ UNKLE, on the album Psyence Fiction.
Source : en.wikipedia.org/.../wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ashcroft
What do you think about
Richard ASHCROFT ?
Give your opinion about Richard ASHCROFT's life !
For you, Richard ASHCROFT is Love ? Hate ?
Why ? Tell us :
For you, Richard ASHCROFT is Love ? Hate ?
Why ? Tell us :